Journey To Home
by falseking
Summary: She's never felt truly complete, and she never knew why. /I suck at writing a summary  PeterxOC
1. Intro

The metallic sting that hung in the air had pierced my eardrums. The glass bottoms of our filled cups colliding with the decorated table emitted a thud, similar to knuckles tapping against thick wood.

I found myself glancing towards the main hallway where the front door waited in silence more than once. The sound seemed to remain, rather than fade with every passing second.

With every shuffle of food, the utensils would scrape against the plates. Every sound seemed to collect in a pile, rapidly forming into a cloud of thunder in my own mind. I felt suffocated by all the noise. My fingers would collect the fabric of my old sweater in a tight grip, before releasing hastily when eyes wandered in my direction. Everything was slowly becoming irritating.

The smiles they flaunted, or the strange looks Alison would send my way. The distant ticking of the clock that had been placed in the hallway upstairs. Even when my family began to speak, the clutter continued to build. With a swift and carefully planned hushed sigh, I relaxed in my chair and moved my attention to the window, sparing a view of our front lawn and the flowers that had been placed.

It had been raining for the past few hours. Malcolm stated we may have some trouble with the land if it continued to pour like this. A pool of mud would develop and paint the drive and walkways. He also said that if that were the case, he would hire someone clean it up. To which I shot back, rather dully, "Why make our troubles theirs? It's our home. We should take care of it." No one brought up tomorrows possible troubles afterwards. At least not around me. Tomorrow, I vowed to no one in particular, that if I saw someone outside, a stranger, I would send them home and pick up where they left off all on my lonesome. I needed a hard job. Something my parents haven't been giving me since..that day. The day I fell from the closet in the storage room. The day I realized I was alone once more. The day I cried and cursed Aslan's name..

I knew better than that, surely. Aslan had given me things that would only seem possible in a dream. A dream people insisted I had simply gotten lost within in order to deal with my stress. They thought I was slowly going mental. I would have believed them.. But I could still do what I had done back in Narnia. I would make my way out to the nearest stables and ride the horses without flaw. I could carry heavier things and speak with a noble tongue, but not without judgmental looks. And though I was given this world.. It was gone now. And for that, a shred of me loathed the Great Lion.


	2. Chapter One

"Watch it, love! You've got to be more careful." With a dull stare I watched as my suitcase tumbled down the short amount of steps, coming to a stop as it hit the cement. My lips threatened to form a smirk. Almost satisfied that I had been so rough and inconsiderate, flaunting my anger. Pretending that instead of carelessly dropping the ratted blue case, I had instead thrown it down.

"Let's hope there wasn't anything of value in there." My eyes followed the suitcase that was now secure in the arms of my step-father, who was chuckling at my sloppiness. He quickly stopped once he took notice that my face had in fact returned to a blank canvas. Clearly not amused."Right then, I'll just go..put this in the trunk."

The flesh of my cheek sunk between my teeth as I began to chew on it in hopes it would hold back the resentment that threatened to lash out at any wrong move. My eye's fell downward to stare at my poorly taken care of army boots I had stolen from a friend of mine last year. This would be the last time I'd ever step on this porch. The last time I'd ever feel..at home. I was leaving it all behind. All the memories of me falling face first into the porch steps after Halloween. Excited by the amount of candy I had collected and intended on consuming almost immediately. My first awkward kiss. My first breakup because of how awkward I truly was. This was where my entire life was, and against my will, I was abandoning it for some stranger. Well, I suppose he wasn't truly a stranger. Malcolm Hugh Saunders; a fourty-nine year old Doctor who swept my mother off her feet with his 'dashing' good looks and charm five years ago.

Last year, he had decided this family was the family he wanted. He knew me and my sister well enough. Knew what we were like and thought "I think I could handle them well." As if he could fix what our real father broke apart. And he did, for the most part. He had popped the question on a lovely stroll in a nearby park, and my mother threw herself at him as she cried out "Yes!" The mother of two mental daughters was finally at peace.

I've always referred to him as my father. Even before he married into the family. He cared far more for me than my own blood. He'd stay after dinner and help me with my homework. He'd come pick me up from school dances or take me out to eat a shit-ton of junk food. "Some Doctor you are." I stated as I happily stuffed the last bit of waffle cone into my mouth. That was before he convinced my mother it would be best if we moved closer to his work. After he suggested it, he became Malcom, or even Mal again, and he'll remain so until I feel comfortable and happy once more.

Stepping down the stairs, I followed after him in a sluggish manner. Soaking up as much time as I possibly could on familiar grounds. When I had reached the sidewalk, I turned back to the average hollow white home. Past the cleaned windows, the rooms were barren and abandoned. I felt as if I was leaving a friend behind. Taking back all the gifts I had given to her after a fight. But there was no trouble between us. She was a perfect little house that sheltered me from the scares of the outside life for the past sixteen years.

Inside, two human beings remained. My mother was moving franticly about. Picking up the last of the trinkets we had on the fireplace and storing them away in a box. Each item hastily wrapped in left over newspaper bits and bubble wrap. It's all we had left.

Her dark brown hair was tied back in a slim red ribbon, keeping it clear of the sweat that was slowly forming over her skin. My sister; Alison trotted her way down the blue carpeted steps with arms filled with her books. She made no attempt to stop and relish in the last moments. She instead moved with haste out the door, down the steps and past me. Her shoulder colliding roughly with my own. With a slight wince, I grasped my lightly throbbing shoulder and watched her go. She moved immediately to the back of the car, gliding in and slamming the door after. Malcolm, who was still organizing the trunk, caught my wandering eye and smiled. His eyes averted after a moment, looking past me towards the house. "Hurry along, Valerie!" "Yes, yes!" Her voice echoed through the house. Her black flats shuffled across the slick wooden floor as she rushed out of the house carrying a large box of fragile belongings. She was beaming. Clearly excited over the thought of leaving her past behind. This had been the first house she had while married. This was the house where it all began to fall apart. This was the home he came back to, drunk on many occasions. This was the home my mother divorced and kicked him out of.  
>Before she made it completely to the car, she turned back to me. "Come on, Eli. The movers will be there any minute." With reluctance, I turned my back on it all..and slipped into the backseat of the black Cadillac next to my sister. Who still seemed unaffected as she texted wildly.<p>

The drive was uneventful, and seemed to get even worse the further we got. We were slowly sinking deeper and deeper into the country where unfamiliar territory awaited us.  
>Not much was said in the back of the car. Ali had jammed the ear buds deep into her ears, drowning us all out of her own little world while my parents played their own tunes. Mostly oldies. Thanks to the music that surrounded them, I was able to mutter and bitch all I wanted without having to worry about being overheard and then lectured over my foul mouth. I was even given many opportunities to insult my sister without her knowledge. Even when she plucked a blue bud out to look at me questioningly, I'd remain adamant that I wasn't talking to her. Though after many unheard insults, she had finally caught me. She purposely let the opposite bud hang over her shoulder, hiding it from my view as she waited for my next comment. I would watch her chew her mint gum in silence out of the corner of my eye, then rather boldly state "You chew like a mad cow." Without saying a word, she instantly picked up her foot and moved it to my side before slamming it down onto my own foot. Though my thick boot absorbed most of the blow, the pain I felt still managed to make me clamp down on my lip to reframe from crying out. "I'm not that thick." She sneered before returning to her book. My parents hadn't noticed. Though my mother did glance over her shoulder, but once realized we weren't shredding one another apart, she smiled and turned her attention back to the sights that passed us.<p>

Alison Rae Hartley-Saunders; hell in the form of an eight-teen year old girl. Graduating High School by a single thread in four weeks. Not because she was a lazy woman. In fact, she would push her own limits in order to achieve something that was important to her. She was on the verge of failure due to her attitude problem. She'd got into a few fights in her past with students, and was suspended every time. After realizing her shit attitude was going to hurt her chances of moving forward, she'd hold all her anger back in a little bottle until it exploded at home. With her hate now cooped away, she'd work her ass off to get back to where she was. For that, I envied her.. Up until she would throw her shoes at me.  
>Our relationship was decent enough in the beginning. She would tolerate me and all my constant wants until deemed old enough to be bullied. It was mild at first. Name calling and teasing. But as I grew into my teens, I, like many other teens, became more mouthy. I thought of myself as a very kind and open person. I make friends easily and do my best to avoid trouble. But when Alison heckled me, I felt the desire to finally lash back. Only to piss her off more. Somehow, the end result satisfied me.<p>

Malcolm insisted we were close as he turned down a dirt road. Though I felt as if I was in a hick town, the houses down this way seemed..rather kingly. Their gardens glowing with healthy and vibrant flowers that seemed to be strategically placed in a crowded yet organized mess. Their lawns were fresh and green, some even held small fountains. I enjoyed the elegance while it lasted. We were simply passing through the rich section.  
>A young boy with his blonde sister played ball out on their wide front lawn. The beach ball seemed larger than him as he desperately chucked it back to the young girl. He paused as we drove by, watching us go with bright blue eyes. I gave a small smile before his sister called his attention back to the game at hand.<p>

The device on my lap vibrated feverishly with a fresh text message from my childhood friend; Simon. "Don't gooooo." He pleaded with a dozen sad faces. I quickly reminded him that he was overreacting, and that he could simply drive to see me. I'd remain a whole fifteen minutes away. "Finally." My mother sighed out happily as the music was turned down. I placed my phone back onto my lap to look at what my mother seemed to be so pleased about.

Eyes wide, mouth agape in astonishment, I drooled over a mansion that seemed to stretch for miles. It's deep brown bricks peeking past the scattered moss that grew over the sides. This couldn't possibly be ours. Right?

I turned to my sister, who also stared in awe. We shared a quiet moment as we looked to one another for confirmation. The car slowed down as we reached the end of a long row of trees that blocked the rest of the home. A bright yellow truck waited for us in the long, curved driveway with a mass of men waiting around it. That was our confirmation.

Malcolm parked the car beside the large truck without my knowledge. In fact, I hadn't realized we had finally stopped until my mother opened my door, smiling. "Come now. Best claim your room before your sister beats you to it." Reluctantly, I moved from my seat to stand on the hot cobblestone that had been basking under the sun for hours. "Though it won't be much of a let down. Every room is rather large. All come with a nice view-Oh! Do take these in for me?" She handed me the large box she had been hauling about all day before flipping fallen strands of hair from her face. "Your father and I want to help the movers. Don't get lost now!" She shouted as I began to stalk off.  
>I turned to her, eyes wide in panic. Would I actually become lost in this place? I didn't doubt it. A shred of me had wished she had handed me brightly colored tape to leave a trail behind. Or even just string. "I'm only kidding! Well, I mean, I hope you don't get lost. You may become slightly confused though.." With zero comfort received, like an frightened horse on a frozen lake, I moved inside. Immediately impressed by the intricate detail that surrounded me. It was clear that no one had been in here for many, many years. It also seemed that Malcolm had arranged for someone to come and clean this place up. Though small specks of dust remained along the boarders of the wall.<p>

"Excuse me, miss." I nearly jumped out of my skin, startled by how close the voice was and instantly moved aside, pressing myself tightly against the wall as a bloke wheeled in a tall dark grandfather clock, another right behind him with it's twin. My mother was obsessed with them. There was no doubt in my mind that now that we had all of this space, our home would be stocked with them. Filling every hallway. All remaining silent, other than the ticking of course. No one, not even my mother could stand the chime they would emit every hour.

After the men passed me by, one moving into the living room while the other aimed for the opposite side of the house. I followed after the nearest male and placed the box down in the furthest corner of the large room and wished it the best of luck around all these burly men. If I return to find the box crushed under a pile, I'd never hear the end of it. But I couldn't concentrate on where I was going, and how I was going to get back if I was also worrying about the condition of the delicate objects in my care. I ran back to the stairs and continued to do so up onto the next level. Were a million doors and hollow rooms awaited me. But I wanted to be _higher_, so I pushed myself to the top level, which was truly only the 3rd floor.

When I had rounded the corner, my sister was already making her way out of one of the rooms, still texting. She didn't seem to notice me until I spoke up. "I wonder what would happen if I..broke that. Would you suddenly shrivel up and die? Perhaps melt. Or spontaneously combust!" She sniggered darkly before taking long, casual steps my way. I won't deny that I suddenly felt as if I was merely a foot tall, and she was about to step on my face, smashing my body into the wooden floorboards. Alison tended to make me feel like that a lot lately. Though I would never let it show.

"I saw this show once, right-" I would have rolled my eyes if she hadn't been staring directly at me. "One of those 'Haunting' shows. Years and years ago, a family came home, went to bed..and were killed in their sleep. They say the killer had broken into their home while they were away, and waited in a tiny little room up in the attic until the right moment presented itself." She grinned devishly, before her eyes lit up once more with another idea. "Oh! Let's not forget Black Christmas! Texas Chainsaw-" "Have you taken your crazy pills today, Alison? Or do I need to jump you and give you a forced injection? Perhaps tranquilize you so you'd finally shut the hell up." She said nothing more about it, but her eyes seemed to speak for her. Once giving me the sharp glare, her blue eyes returned to her phone before walking past me towards the stairs, mumbling "That's my room by the way." "What room? There's dozen's of rooms!"

Again, no response. She vanished into the depths of the house, though the heels of her boots could still be heard. I assumed she had meant the room she had just come from, and if she didn't, and I happened to place claim on it, she'd just have to deal with the consequences of being terribly vague.

/ / / / / / /

"Easy does it-" Malcolm stated with a low grunt as we hauled and maneuvered a tall bookcase into his new office. "Alright, now set it down." I did so, gingerly, making sure neither of our feet would be caught under it's weight. He let out a heavy sigh, whipping his exposed forearm across his brow, pulling the sweat aside. "I forgot how much I hated moving.. Ready to set it up?" I gave a silent nod before gripping my end once again and pulled it up high until I had to readjust to then push it the rest of the way, while Malcolm waited on the other end, ready to keep it from rocking to and fro.  
>Once hearing the satisfying thud, together we backed up to study it. "Is that where you wanted it?" With a finger tapping against his chin, he glanced around the room, taking everything in. "Looks fine to me! What do you think?" I raised my hands up in defense, stepping away from the case. "It's not my room." He shared a twisted smile with me as I plopped down in his nice black leather chair.<p>

"So-" "So," I mimicked as I began to twirl in a sluggish pace. Worried that if I went any faster, I would accidentally hit something and sure enough, break it. "How long do you plan to hate me?" The twirl stopped with haste, allowing my wide eyes to stare at the back of his head. "What?" As he began to turn, I saw his smile, and felt a bit more at ease. But that didn't keep me from digging my nails into the armrest. "I know you're upset with me."

'Act cool, calm and casual' my racing mind told me. So with swiftness, but all the while still trying to look uninterested, I folded my hands over my pushed out stomach. My thumbs immediately fiddling with one another. "I'm not upset." He knew better. Of course he did. He's a bloody Doctor and not a complete oblivious idiot. He moved forward and placed himself in the seat opposite of me, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his cleaned yet cluttered desk. "So is that why you haven't been speaking to me much?" I didn't respond. Just sunk a bit lower and watched my thumbs intently with a dumb expression. "It wasn't just _my_ idea, you know. Your mother had been wanting to move to a bigger place-" "Yeah but, out in nowhere dirt land?" He chuckled. "This is a nice area! When kids your age think Countryside, they think fields of corn and grassy hills as far as the eye could see with cows grazing. Were you not proven wrong today? Didn't you see all the people?" "Well-" "Elizabeth, you're an adventurous girl. Don't think your mum didn't tell me stories about how you'd purposely get lost in nearby woods." I grinned at the thought. I'd vanish for hours under the protection of the trees, only to return home and be grounded. Not that the punishment taught me anything.

"Not only are we in a new, big house-but you're also older now. Your mother would be more lenient. You have so much more adventure here." A small smile crept across my face. "I suppose so, _dad_." His smile stretched even wider when I called him by his proper title for the first time in weeks. Well, technically his proper title would have a 'step' in it somewhere. But I wasn't fond of verbalizing it. "'Atta girl. Now, start handing me some books." As he went to stand up, I reached down and plucked up a heavy box of books and rested it on his desk, handing him two books at a time. When the box was emptied, I tossed it out into the hallway and moved to the next. Which was much bigger. The first book I removed caught my attention, and instead of assisting him, I opened it and began to flip and read random pages. "Oh, I wouldn't be looking in that if I were you." He warned as he continued to put his things onto the shelf.

"What's.." I squinted as I read the word. Hoping it would somehow assist my pronunciation of it. "Le-ish-man-iasis?" "Leishmaniasis." He corrected. "Find out for yourself. Read on." It wasn't the description of the disease that startled me, it was the pictures. "Oh hell!" I slammed the book shut and handed it to him immediately. "I told you you wouldn't like it!" He chuckled softly as he picked it up and put it next to it's twin. He always kept an extra of every medical book he owned just in case. "I no longer feel safe in here. I half expect to turn around and see a picture of the human structure.. Intestines and all." I gave a quick shudder before jumping out of the chair and onto my feet.

Off in the distance, I heard my mothers voice call for us. "Ah, dinner must be ready." My stomach suddenly roared desperately. In the midst of all this commotion, I've managed to push the feeling of hunger aside. "Come now," with a hand pressed lightly against my back, he guided me out of the room and followed my pace as we trotted down the stairs. Upon hearing our footsteps, my mother spoke in a rather cheery tone "Got the office all done, have you?" "Almost! I'll work some more on it tonight, probably finish it off tomorrow."

I moved into the dining room, where Alison was setting up the table in silence. "Oh, Elizabeth," my mother started up as she moved into the same room, with her arm holding yet another box. "Nooo." Instantly catching on to her goal, I gave a childish stomp of the foot and whined. "Make Ali do it!" "She's been helping me in the kitchen all day. Just take this into the storage room for me? It'll be the last favor, I promise." With a cheeky smile, she slowly transferred it into my arms. I hastily turned on my heel and made way for the staircase. But stopped on the very first step after realizing something. "I don't even know where the storage room is!" "Just go up, to the right and straight down the hallway. It should be the third door down." Feeling defeated and rather lazy, I slowly stalked my way up the stairs and towards the hallway. When I reached the door, I pressed my back against it and knocked it back with ease.

Inside the room, piles of boxes were stacked and scattered about, their contents having no real home just yet. After placing the box down with care, I took a moment to look around. The room was filled to the brim with things from my childhood, as well as Alison's. Things that have been hidden up in the attic and forgotten. All dusty and ratted.

A child's rocking chair sat peacefully with an old 90's styled cushion on it's flat seat. Stained with the grape juice I had carelessly spilled on multiple occasions. Placing my hand on it's back, I gave it a soft push and watched it wobble and rock. It didn't always wobble, of course. Alison and I, when she didn't fully hate me, got into a bit of a playful wrestle and ended up cracking the chair in a few places. Though distracted by all the nostalgia that surrounded me, I could still notice something was out of place. Something didn't belong. At the very back of the room, pressed tightly against the wall, a large wooden wardrobe with a white curtain hanging over it's one side. I frowned as my eyes studied it. It didn't look familiar in the slightest. Hesitantly, I turned my back on it and made my way back out to the dinning room, where my family was already seated, waiting patiently.


End file.
